You knew this was coming.It followed as naturally as broken promises follow elections, the inevitable byproduct of Kobe Bryant’s arrest last summer on charges of raping a 19-year-old hotel worker. She says he forced himself on her, he says the sex was consensual. A jury will decide. But a Los Angeles-based sex therapist says there’s […]

CONCORD, N.H. – Democrats in New Hampshire nervous that front-runner Howard Dean is too gaffe-prone and harshly anti-Bush are beginning to turn to … Gen. Wesley Clark?Anyone who listens to what Clark says on the stump every day can only consider his surge – fueled partly by doubts about the seemingly out-of-control Dean – with […]

With a bold vision for NASA and manned spaceflight, President Bush talked Wednesday of returning astronauts to the moon and then sending them on to Mars.A lofty goal, indeed. Unfortunately, the actual proposal falls far short of the rhetoric.The president has proposed adding $1 billion over five years to NASA’s budget, or about $250 million […]

Students top the list of accident-prone drivers, but beware doctors and lawyers. The number of female professional drivers on our highways is steadily increasing. I find my female counterparts to be outstandingly proficient, professional and safety conscious. However, together with this observation comes the memory of women drivers taking it on the chin from comedians […]

Some small businesses received a belated Christmas present from the government earlier this month: A taste of uncertainty, gift wrapped in the suspension of the popular 7(a) loan program.On Jan. 6, word went out that the Small Business Administration was suspending 7(a) because the program had run out of money.The Finance Administration of Maine jumped […]

I had to go to the market to do some shopping. God went along to keep me company.He was examining the fine print on some ice cream when I told Him about a news story I had seen. It said that Howard Dean has decided to mention God more often in his campaign appearances.“What’s a […]

Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were an illusion.They were an illusion, created inside Iraq to deter enemies, impress allies and, perhaps, to forestall the rage of a brutal dictator.Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman last week documented the evidence so far concerning Iraq’s weapons programs. The gist of the story is in the headline, which sums […]

Lewiston is screaming toward a major decision, rushing headlong into an arrangement that could haunt the city for decades and cost taxpayers at least $4.6 million and maybe much more.Of course, things could work out fabulously and the city could break even or maybe make a little money, although we are skeptical at this point.Either […]

Mad cow disease has arrived in the United States, but mad-cow hysteria hasn’t, much to the chagrin of environmental and animal-rights activists. Ronnie Cummins, head of the Organic Consumers Association, hopes that mad-cow fears fuel a “crisis of confidence” in American food. Great. Maybe we can have a run on the banks and urban riots, […]

Howard Dean’s major contribution to the debate so far isn’t what you think. It isn’t his innovative use of the Internet or his grassroots fund raising; it isn’t even his nimble ability to transform the Democratic base’s outrage over President Bush into his own personal political trampoline.No, in terms of the issues facing the nation […]